1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an insulator equipped adjacent a meter such as a speedometer or adjacent handlebars for an automotive two-wheeled vehicle and, more particularly, to an insulator for covering a terminal connecting part formed by connection between a first terminal attached to an end of a first wire and a second terminal attached to an end of a second wire for purposes of preventing a leak and for waterproofing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, many terminal connecting parts for wiring in electrical equipment of an automotive two-wheeled vehicle are exposed to the outside and adapted to be protected by insulators (caps) for purposes of preventing leaks and for waterproofing. Referring to FIGS. 9 and 10, for example, a tubular insulator 1 made of PVC (polyvinyl chloride) has a first opening 2 from which a female terminal 11 attached to an end of a wire 10 is inserted and positioned in the insulator 1. With the female terminal 11 positioned within the insulator 1, a weld W is formed by welding on the side of the first end of the insulator 1 to block up the first opening 2 and to fix the wire 10 to the insulator 1. A male terminal 21 attached to another wire 20 is inserted into the insulator 1 from its second opening 3 and is then connected to the female terminal 11.
For automotive two-wheeled vehicles, wires of small diameter with a thin coating have often been used for purposes of reduction in size and weight of the electrical equipment. Welding the insulator 1 to the wire 10 with the thin coating causes welding failure because of its small welding region, resulting in a large number of defective products.
For this reason, insulators which need no welding have been developed in recent years.
FIGS. 11 and 12 illustrate such an insulator 50. The insulator 50 of a tubular configuration made of an elastic material such as PVC, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, has a block-up portion 51 for blocking up a first end thereof with a through hole 53 provided centrally therein for receiving terminals and wires, and locking portions 54 and 55 for terminal positioning formed so as to project inwardly from generally central locations on the inner peripheral surface of the insulator 50.
Referring to FIGS. 12 and 13, the through hole 53 is enlarged by means of a jig not shown or the like against the elastic force, and a female terminal 61 attached to an end of a wire 60 and the wire 60 are inserted into the enlarged through hole 53 and pushed in until a contact 62 provided at the front end of the female terminal 61 is fitted between the locking portions 54 and 55.
Then the through hole 53 is restored to its original diameter by the elastic restoring force to block up the first end of the insulator 50. A male terminal 71 attached to an end of a wire 70 and the wire 70 are inserted into the insulator 50 from its second opening 52 by means of a jig 80 and is then connected to the female terminal 61 within the insulator 50, as shown in FIG. 14.
A need exists, however, to prevent the wire 70 from bending when the male terminal 71 is connected to the female terminal 61 with the jig 80. It is, accordingly, necessary for the jig 80 to hold the wire 70 adjacent the male terminal 71. For this reason, the front end of the jig 80 must be inserted into the second opening 52 of the insulator 50 when the terminals 71 and 61 are connected to each other. A slight positional shift of the jig 80 in the diametrical direction of the insulator 50 causes the jig 80 to come into contact with the second end edge of the insulator 50, which hinders the male terminal 71 from being pushed into the female terminal 61. This results in connection failure between the terminals 71 and 61.
Further, the through hole 53 formed in the first end block-up portion 51 of the insulator 50 is as small as possible in diameter for purposes of preventing leak and preventing water from entering the inside of the insulator 50. This necessitates a jig for enlarging the through hole 53 widely enough for the female terminal 61 to pass therethrough when the female terminal 61 is fitted in the insulator 50, resulting in cumbersome insertion of the female terminal 61.